I’m currently reading The Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson, and I’m almost done with the third book. However, I’m also not getting the enjoyment I had hoped to get as a collective whole after each finished reading (Deadhouse Gates was the one I enjoyed the most, but Gardens and now Memories aren’t keeping that enjoyment ongoing for long periods of the narrative for me). Therefore, when can I know that this series is for me or not?

I’m really interested in the world of Malazan and a few of the story lines are engaging, but I don’t want a repeat of what I did with Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. Which was to read for the world, even though I didn’t give a damn about the characters, their struggle or even the story itself. It made for a very lukewarm and mediocre memory. As a collective whole so far, I’m not loving the experience because the sheer amount of characters here are making it hard to care for or register most in my mind (and I need that to love and enjoy a series), but I’d like to be sure before I make any decisions.

I’m deeply conflicted, because I really want to know how it ends as this feels like a history of different locations which is fine and all. But, I have the feeling it’s leading up to something much bigger and I don’t want to miss that. However, it also feels like I’m not getting the enjoyment I hoped for vs the time spent kind of thing. Which is extremely frustrating.